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Benjamin Cocanougher
- Alumni
- United States
- 2016 PhD Zoology
- St Catharine's College
I grew up catching praying mantises and damselflies in rural Kentucky. As an undergraduate at Centre College, I majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; I spent my summers taking care of sick children at the Center for Courageous Kids and doing research in organic chemistry and neuroscience. I matriculated directly to the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and completed my first three years of medical school. I then moved to Janelia Research Campus as a HHMI Medical Research Fellow; there I studied the neural and genetic bases of behavior. As a PhD student in Zoology, I will study adaptive behavior. All animals integrate information about past experience into future decisions; this is the basis of learning and memory. I am proposing to write a specific memory and read the memory trace in the brain. I will use the fruit fly as a model organism. By understanding mechanisms of memory storage, we can begin to investigate changes in memory formation in disease; this may allow us to develop rational therapies for disorders of memory formation, including autism and Alzheimer’s disease. After completing my PhD, I will return to finish my last year of medical school and pursue a career as a child neurologist and neuroscientist, using my lab to better understand the patients I see in clinic.
Previous Education
Centre College
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Latest News
A child’s best friend
Children get more satisfaction from relationships with their pets than with their brothers or sisters, according to a newly published study led by a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Children also appear to get on even better with their animal companions than with siblings. The research adds to increasing evidence that household pets may have a major […]
Biotech Summit addresses African development
A not-for-profit organisation set up by a Gates Cambridge Scholar is holding its inaugural African Diaspora Biotech Summit in Cambridge in April. Applications for the JR Biotek Foundation Summit opened this week. It will be held at the Sainsbury Laboratory Auditorium, University of Cambridge on Tuesday, 4th April 2017. The theme for the Summit is […]
Human trafficking: what works?
What makes for an effective policy to counter trafficking in human beings? Sharmila Parmanand’s research will examine the current anti-trafficking ecosystem. It’s an area she knows well having worked at the Philippines’ leading anti-trafficking organisation as Head of Policy for several years. She is particularly interested in the policy-making process, but also the knowledge claims […]
Confronting downstream oil theft
A company set up by a Gates Cambridge Scholar and specialising in advising on strategic defence and security matters has released the first-ever major study on global downstream oil theft – a form of criminal enterprise that threatens to destabilise states and regions around the world. I.R. Consilium, LLC released the report Downstream Oil Theft: Global Modalities, Trends and Remedies which was formally […]
Taking the initiative
One of the first cohort of Gates Cambridge Scholars has been appointed president and chief executive officer of a leading US community and economic development organisation. Matt Varilek, former chief operating officer of the US Small Business Administration in Washington, DC, will officially take up his new post at the The Initiative Foundation on 3rd […]
Tackling cancer with nano-drugs
Vijay Kanuru [2006] is just about to expand his nano-drug development firm in the UK after success in India. Oncocur Limited develops nano-drugs to fight cancer and builds on Vijay’s PhD research into nanoparticles. He says: “Cancer is growing across the world. There are two main challenges: the toxicity of treatments and the fact that […]
Lessons from Silicon Savannah
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has co-authored a chapter in the first book of its kind to offer an in-depth analysis of a single African country’s technology sector and the factors shaping it. The book, ‘Digital Kenya, An Entrepreneurial Revolution in the Making’, has just been published in hard and open source versions by Palgrave Macmillan […]
Communicating the science of DNA
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has produced a BBC podcast and won a prestigious physics prize. Kerstin Goepfrich [2013], who is finishing a PhD in Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory focused on smart nano-objects folded out of DNA, produced a one-hour show for the acclaimed Naked Scientists podcast. It included an interview with Gates Cambridge alumnus Vitor […]
Larger brain size in mammals linked to longer life
The size of a female animals’ brain may determine whether they live longer and have more healthy offspring, according to new research. The study*, Endocranial volume is heritable and is associated with longevity and fitness in a wild mammal, published in the Royal Society Open Science journal, shows that female red deer with larger brains live longer […]
Understanding world politics in 2016
Four Gates Cambridge Scholars are taking part in the first internal symposium to be themed solely on world politics. The event, next Tuesday, will discuss developments in 2016 in the US, Europe and Brazil as well as why China’s political system remains so different from other East Asian states. The speakers are Victor Roy, Yevgen […]
